A better man
by darveycanon206
Summary: My take on how things could go when Jim Paulsen will be back


**Just a little something about how I think things could go when Donna's father will be back.**

**This is my second fic ever, English is not my first language and it's un- beta'ed so forgive me for the mistakes. Anyway, let me know your thoughts and I hope you'll enjoy the story!**

**(I don't own Suits or any of its characters)**

**A Better man **

It was a late Wednesday night when her phone started ringing while she was admiring the monumental New York skyline.

She looked at the caller ID before answering cause she wasn't in the mood to have an unpleasant conversation: "Dad". It seemed a little bit odd to her but she answered anyway.

"Hi dad"

"Donna! How are you? It's been a while"

"I'm fine dad, thanks. What about you? Why are you calling so late?"

"Woah that's the happiness I get from my daughter when I call her?"

"I'm sorry, It's just been a long and stressing day and I'm still at the office so…"

"Well I won't steal much of your time then… I just called you to tell you that I'll be in town for the next couple of days and I was just wondering if my little sweetie was available for a nice dinner with her Pa"

"Ehm yes that'd be nice, there's actually something new I wanna tell you… how would you fell about inviting Harvey to the dinner too?" she asked anxiously

"Well, if that's the clause for seeing my daughter, I guess I'm okay with him coming" he answered quite reluctantly

"Thanks dad, I'll book a table at Del Posto for the three of us, Friday night"

"See you then, baby"

As she hanged up her phone, a wave of anxiety hit her. Her dad and Harvey haven't exactly been on good terms for a while but she really wanted to share with him their happiness, he was family after all.

Harvey heard her keys dropping on his kitchen counter and saw a glimpse of her perfect figure coming to the living room.

"Rough day uh?" he asked her when he saw her upset face

"You have no idea" she answered while taking off her red Valentino heels and sat near him on the sofa

He cupped her face and planted a soft kiss on her lips "I was expecting you home sooner though, I missed you"

"I know, I missed you too, so much, but I got a call on my way out and I was dragged a little bit…" she replied while stroking his hair

"Mh a call… should I be worried?"

"Well, that's actually up to you…"

"Woah…I was joking but now you're scaring me. Who called you?"

"My dad Harvey… he's in town during the next couple of days and he asked me if we could have dinner together"

"It seems nice Donna, why should I be worried?"

"Cause I asked him if you could come with us since there was something I needed to tell him…"

Harvey's face went pale for a second so she decided to keep talking before he could say something against the whole idea

"Look, I know you two don't have the brightest connection but.." she tried to explain

"The brightest connection?! Donna the man hates me! I once told him he didn't love you enough! I can't believe he agreed to this" he said while laughing and yelling at the same time

"Well he did cause he really wants to see me and I do want to share our beautiful news with him because he's my dad and he deserves to know his little girl is over the moon" she stated

"Look Donna, I'd be glad to stand by your side while you tell Jim about us, but are you sure me being there is such a good idea?"

"We have pulled off way worse situations together Harvey, we can do this"

"Then it's settled" he told her while smiling at his wonderful girlfriend

"Thank you" she whispered while leaning her head on his shoulder, thinking about how lucky she was having this gorgeous man by her side

It was 8 PM when they stepped out of the car together in front of the restaurant. She was dressed in a deep green knee lenght gown while Harvey was wearing one of his favorite grey suits. If he had to be honest, he was feeling very nervous. After all, Jim was Donna's father and now that they were finally together, he wanted the man to see how much he loves his daughter and he was willing to make things right with him.

Once they got into the restaurant, they spotted Jim ahead of them, waving at Donna with the biggest smile on his face.

"Sweetie, you look so beautiful" he greeted her while squeezing her in a hug

"Thank you Dad, it's been so long" she responded while giving him a cute smile

"Harvey, nice to see you again" Jim said while shaking his hand

"Likewise Mr Paulsen" he replied trying to fake a smile of joy

"Shall we seat?" Donna said while trying to erase the awkardness of the situation

"Of course, let's go" her dad responded while letting the pair reach the table before himself

Despite all of Donna and Harvey's worries, dinner was going quite well. Jim asked them about the Firm, how they were handling the situation after what happened to Robert and Donna asked his father how is business was going.

Everything seemed quite perfect. Till the moment Jim asked the question.

"So Donna, what's the big news you so wanted to tell me?"

She started trembling cause, even though she really wanted to let her father know how joyful the last weeks had been, she was so afraid of his reaction.

"Well dad, there's a reason I asked you if I could bring Harvey to this dinner… you know we've always been very close through the years and Harvey's always been one of the few people I could trust…"

Harvey saw she was struggling cause she probably didn't know which right words to choose to deliver the news, so he took her hand under the table to let her know, no matter how this was gonna go, he was gonna have her back.

She smiled at him cause she immediatly got what he was doing and, after taking a deep breath, she let it out. "Harvey and I are together dad"

A giant question mark appeared in front of Jim's face. "What do you mean you're together?!"

"I mean we're in a relationsh.." she started replying before she was cut off by her dad's angry voice

"I know what "together" means Donna. I just don't understand how could you possibly wanted to start a relationship with this man in the first place" he shout at her

There it is. He didn't even make her explain the situation. He was already throwing shit at Harvey. And he couldn't bare it.

"Watch yourself Jim, I'm sitting right here" he warned the man before he could go deeper into accusations.

"I know Harvey, I'm not afraid of standing up to you for my own daughter" he yelled at him, throwing his fork on the table

"Dad! There's nothing to stand up for! I'm happy, the happiest I've ever been. And that's all thanks to Harvey"

"I can't believe all of this Donna! He took you for granted for so many years, one day he decided sleeping with you was worth it, and you get fooled like a 16 years old!"

Harvey was raging. Jim accusing him of being a bad man was one thing, but for him to tell Donna the only thing he cared about their relationship was the sex, that was unacceptable.

He had to get into the conversation promptly, but he wanted to show Jim the maturity he wasn't displaying. So, insted of yelling, he looked at Donna and started "Donna, why don't you let me and your father talk about this alone for a minute?"

She wasn't so sure of leaving the two of them alone. The air could be cut with a knife. But she trusted Harvey with all her heart so she nodded at him and let herself go to the ladies room to freshen up a bit.

Harvey decided to take the matter into his own hands and began speaking to Jim without ever losing eye contact with him.

"Jim, I know I haven't always been fair to you, I know you have a certain image of me in your head and it's gonna be hard to change it, but let me tell you something. I love Donna, I love her from the bottom of my heart and I've loved her for so many years without being able to acknowledge that to myself. You're right, I do have taken her for granted sometimes and I'm the first one here admitting I was an idiot cause there's no other woman like her."

He started seeing a change in Jim's facial expression so he decided to go on, exploiting the moment in which he oddly wasn't snapping at him

"Your daughter is the best thing that's ever happened to me. We both know it. And I was dumb enough to throw away 13 years of our lives that we could have been spending together. So I warn you, I'm not letting anyone get between me and her. We want this Jim, we really do and I can promise you I'll take good care of her. She makes me a better man and I want to be with her for the rest of my life."

The man was truly shocked by how open hearted Harvey had been with him. He had never seen that side of him before, the better side of him. And to think that's probably cause of his little Donna that he became the man he is right now made his heart warmer.

"Okay Harvey, I won't stand in the way. If there's a thing we've always been on the same page about is her. We love her and we would go till the end of the earth to protect her, that I know. So, I'll give you my blessing, but I swear if you hurt her…" 

"I won't Jim, ever" he said while shaking the man hand.

"Wow, I guess this little chat really helped" he heard her voice coming from behind him and saw her smiling at her dad

"Well, the guy here surely knows how to get himself out of unpleasant situations" Jim laughed whil caressing his daughter hand

"I'm the best closer in town after all" Harvey grinned at Donna while she landed a little punch on his chest

"Does this mean you're okay with this, with us, dad?"

"I am. I know this man would take a bullet for you and Donna, I've never seen you happier than I did tonight. A man who puts that kind of smile on your face deserves all of my respect"

"Thank you dad, this really means so much to me" she replied with her eyes full of tears

"It means a lot to me too Jim. I promise I'll treat her as gracefully as she deserves" he told the man while placing a gentle kiss on Donna's forehead

She knew Harvey and her dad still had some things to work out but she couldn't be happier about how this unexpected dinner turned out.


End file.
